


Solidarity

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [51]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fae & Fairies, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Healing, Near Death Experiences, Team Dynamics, Vampire Family, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-19
Updated: 2014-07-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 12:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1983381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team sets about trying to save the Bellefleur girls and Adilyn, Sookie, and Nora discuss the philosophy behind the entire situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solidarity

**Author's Note:**

> Part four, "Fire."

Not seconds after the guns go off, Pam springs forward to twist the head off of the ringleader while Tara and Eric dispose of the other assailants and the other women dash to the quickly falling fairy girls.  From what they can tell, the bullets caught Danika (who’s landed in Nora’s arms) and Charlaine (in  Sookie’s arms) in their stomachs, Braelyn (in Willa’s) in the shoulder, and Adilyn (in Jessica’s) managed only to get shot in the hand she’d had outstretched.

“Oh, fuck,” Nora whispers, eyes going wide as the hand that’s not under Danika frantically and uselessly covers her mouth and nose.

It’s not like the vampires exactly _need_ to go wild from the scent of just-spilled fairy blood, but it’s also not like it’s something that can be avoided at this point.

“Check their pulses,” Willa shouts at the others, pressing her fingers to the underside of Braelyn’s jaw.  All she can think is _stay calm_.  And it’s not like she can do mouth to mouth or whatever, but she still remembers the instructions from the first aid class she took in high school, dammit, she’s going to be helpful.

“We gotta get them back to Merlotte’s,” Sookie declares.  All four of them are still present – Adilyn most so, given how her wound’s the least threatening – but fading none too quickly.

In an instant, Eric is at his sister’s side.  “Are you going to be okay?” he whispers.  Okay whisking a bleeding fairy off into the night, he means.  Okay controlling herself. 

Eyes wide and lips pressed together, Nora shakes her head very quickly.  _No_ , or possibly its more eloquent cousin _Most certainly not_.

“Very well,” Eric says, and he reaches down to take Danika in his arms, holding tight but careful not to aggravate her stomach wound.  The girl moans, and she sounds horribly pained, but at least she’s still present enough to manage sounds.

Off his nod, Tara picks up Braelyn and Pam does the same with Charlaine; Jessica tries to hold Adilyn despite the fact that she doesn’t feel a whole lot better about the situation than Nora (or Willa, who’s hurrying to her aunt’s side with a nervous expression) but Adilyn makes a disgruntled sort of noise and halfheartedly swats her away with her uninjured hand.

“M’fine,” she mumbles.

Jessica makes a face.  “Piggyback if it’s more dignified or whatever, I don’t care, but I gotta carry you,” she says.

Adilyn frowns right back as she looks everyone else over.  Her sisters being hoisted up like brides (that’s a terrifying thought for _so_ many reasons), even Sookie hesitantly attaching herself to Willa (it seems weird that someone as bitty as Willa can support the weight of even someone near her own size, but – vampire shit, she guesses).  It’s apparently normal, so she lets out a sigh and climbs on to Jessica’s back.  “Why couldn’t we just –”

The question, of course, is cut off by all of the vampires (Nora taking point, weapons at the ready) suddenly speeding off in the general direction of the restaurant.

 

* * *

 

They stream through the door to a chorus of worry and confusion from Sam and Luna and Lafayette – “what the hell happened” and variations first, followed by “quick, get ‘em laid out” and variations next – and all four of the girls are set down on four separate tables.

“Vampires?” Luna asks.

“Looks more like gun-crazy yahoos,” Lafayette observes, coming off decidedly more blasé than he feels.  (It’s not like they’re the best of friends, but he’s kind of fond of the baby Bellefleurs.  They’re regular enough fixtures around here now, and besides they share his affinity for tastefully arranged sequins.)

“You want me to call 911?” Sam offers.

Sookie shakes her head, frowning, and Eric says, “This is gonna be faster.”

“What’s going on?” Adilyn – perched on the table nearest the door – exclaims. “These are my sisters, they can’t die just ‘cause of some evil vampire – thing.”

“We’re savin’ your sisters’ lives, sugarplum,” Pam mutters, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re going to give you all some of our blood,” Eric explains in his smoothest voice, the one that’s prompted many a fantasy.

“Daddy’s gonna kill me if I let us get turned into vampires,” Adilyn says.

“You won’t be.” This from Nora, who’s currently rummaging around behind the bar for cloths or towels or anything to wipe the blood from everyone’s skin. It’s obvious, but she’ll never mind teaching the babies what they need to know. “The appropriate amount of vampire blood will serve as an agent to speed up the healing process, nothing more.”

“It’s safe,” Tara chimes in, grabbing the cloths from her great-aunt and distributing them to the others before settling to tend to Danika’s wound.

“Yeah, ‘cept they’s gonna have some sexy dreams for a while,” Lafayette amends.  “Might wanna tell ‘em to expect –”

“Those’ll go away in time, too,” Sookie interrupts before he gets too risqué.

Without prompting, Jessica drops fang and bites her wrist, then offers it to Adilyn. “Drink,” she says.

Adilyn’s skeptical to say the least, not to mention grossed out, but she licks at Jessica’s wrist, then starts to drink, and sure enough the near-hole in her hand starts to close up almost instantly. Only then does Nora step closer to offer her a damp cloth, trying for an encouraging smile that comes off more like a wince through no fault of her own. 

“Are the other girls still hanging on?” Eric asks.

“Barely,” Pam says, rolling her eyes in the semiconscious fairy girls’ direction.

“We should get to it, then,” Tara interjects, looking none too pleased about her Maker’s attitude. She bites her own wrist, opens Danika’s mouth and starts to let blood drip in, and off her glare, Pam starts to do the same for Charlaine.

“Jess, walk me through it,” Willa pleads, glancing down nervously at Braelyn’s way-too-still body.

“’Course,” Jessica says, dashing over to do just that.

This means everyone else is mostly watching Adilyn, and all the eyes on her (plus three trains of worried thought from Luna and Sam and Lafayette) is making her very uncomfortable. “I… I can’t hear my sisters,” she says after a second, because it’s the only thing she can think of to say.

“Adilyn…” Sookie begins, worried.

“Excuse me,” Adilyn mumbles, and she suddenly dashes out the front door, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Sookie sighs. “I’m going after her.  Y’all just – stay and keep doin’ all this.”

“You’re not going alone,” Eric says.  “We’ve seen what’s out there, what they mean to do – I’m going with you.”

“No,” Nora shouts.  “I am.”  She steps closer to her brother and lowers her voice – all the vampires can still hear, but the others can’t.  “They need someone with them here, looking out for them in case there should be another attack.  You’re the oldest of us, you’ve the best odds.”

Eric nods; what she’s saying makes sense (as it usually does) even if he doesn’t exactly love the idea of letting her and Sookie run around out there.  After smiling one of his barely-perceptible smiles and kissing her forehead, he declares, “Nora and Sookie will find the runaway, then.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Nora promises, and she motions for Sookie to follow her out the door. 

 

* * *

 

It takes all of Nora’s patience not to just break out in a run, but Sookie wouldn’t be able to keep up, and as she points out, “Adilyn wouldn’t have been able to get too far.”  There’s no conversation between them beyond that; Sookie reaches out to the girl telepathically, frowning in concentration, and Nora can’t help but try to follow her scent, though she’s careful not to sniff at the air like an animal.

They’re a few miles out from the bar when Sookie exclaims, “Over here,” waving Nora toward what appears to be a playground.  It’s one of the new ones that have popped up in the last few years, the platforms made of heavy, durable plastic and the railings of primary-colored metal; they’re safer, maybe, but they don’t fill Sookie with any nostalgia, and she can tell by the look on Nora’s face that she feels the same, that she probably doesn’t even have a connection to the idea of playgrounds at all.

Adilyn’s sitting in the middle of a lazily spinning merry-go-round – one of the only older items left, from the way the paint’s chipped – with her head in her hands.

“Is this the kind of place normal kids go?” she asks, looking up as she hears Sookie approaching.

“Sometimes,” Sookie says, slowing the merry-go-round and climbing onto it.

Nora has the tact to back away and awkwardly find a place on the playground to sit: in the little alcove that leads to the tallest spiraling slide (it’s really not so tall at all, but it must seem giant to a child).  She even takes out her phone so it looks like she’s making every effort not to pay attention.

“It’s not fair,” Adilyn says.  “I mean, they’re barely – we’re barely – we’re not supposed to die yet.”

Sookie puts her hand over Adilyn’s, sighing.  “I know,” she murmurs.

“We’re not even a month old,” Adilyn continues, wavering.  “And how old’s our mom?  Like, hundreds of years old, right?  It isn’t fair that someone would be hundreds of years old, and their kids would – would die after a couple of weeks.”

“I know,” Sookie repeats.  “Look, the others are gonna help.”  She’s very careful not to make any promises, but she has a good feeling about it.

“Do they do this kinda thing a lot?” Adilyn asks.

“They’ve done it before,” Sookie confirms.  “Even to me.”  Though she isn’t going to get into all of the details of those situations – any problems there don’t matter or apply to this one.

“Really?”

“Really really.”

Adilyn tries for a smile.  “Cool,” she says.  “I mean, not cool that they had to, but cool that it worked.”  She looks about to say more, but her train of thought derails as she gazes toward the playground and sees Nora sitting at the top of the slide.  Before Sookie can stop her, she’s jumped up and climbed up the ladder, chirping a “Hey, Nora.”

“Is something wrong?” Nora asks, because why else would the girl seek her out?

“No – well, yeah,” Adilyn sighs, flopping down on the platform beneath the one Nora’s sitting on.  “I was just wondering if you could tell me something?  I mean, since you’re sort of the one who knows stuff.”

Nora slides her phone back in her jacket pocket (she hadn’t really been using it except for as a prop, but even as a prop this is the time to hide it) and nods.  “Yes, of course,” she says. “What is it?”

“Okay, so –” Adilyn interrupts herself to take a deep breath, scrunching up her nose.  “Why is everything so dumb?”

It’s easy to forget sometimes that she’s only a couple of weeks old, but then – that.  Nora has to work to keep from laughing, especially when Sookie pushes herself over the railings of the low bridge and joins them with her eyebrows raised as if to say _don’t ask me, I don’t know how to field that one either_.

“I’m not sure exactly what sort of everything you’re referring to,” Nora hesitates instead.

“Like… I dunno, vampire stuff,” Adilyn frowns, and then she immediately looks up at Nora with wide, horrified eyes.  “I don’t mean y’all, you’re fine, mostly.  Just all this _drama_.”

It also shows sometimes that she and her sisters have learned a lot of what they know about life from their Aunt Arlene and reality television.

“It’s a complicated issue,” Nora mutters.  “Quite a lot of it is to do with the vampire Bible and Lilith.”

“Yeah, okay, it’s an old book,” Adilyn shrugs.  She knows that much. “And someone from the old book possessed Sookie’s ex.  Why’s it still affecting how anyone’s thinking?”

“Not quite possessed,” Nora demurs like always, at the same time that Sookie – now leaning against the opposite plastic wall from Adilyn – declares, “Sometimes people like having something to believe in, I guess.”

It takes a moment for all of them to sort out the two sentiments, then Nora looks at Sookie with some surprise.  “Sometimes,” she says.  To Adilyn she clarifies: “A great deal of it comes down to power, too: things that give someone power, or tell someone they’re meant to have power over others because it’s preordained, have always been seductive.  But to have someone in power, you almost certainly need for there to be more who are denied it.”

“And we’re the denied,” Adilyn murmurs.  “People and fairies.”

“According to the vampire Bible, yes,” Nora says.  “According to a great many vampires, really.”

“Is that why you guys were all weird the other night?” Adilyn asks.

“Not really,” Sookie interjects.  “Fairy blood’s kinda like drugs for vampires, so when they’re able to smell it, especially if they’re not used to it, it’s hard for them to avoid getting, well –”

“Excited about,” Nora provides.

“Excited about, even if they don’t actually want to eat us,” Sookie finishes.  Which is to say, and Nora appreciates this very much, that she’s mostly used to that starry-eyed look she gets from vampires by this point and if they’re trying to play nice, she’ll try not to be bothered by it.

“But these others, the ones with Bill,” Nora begins, “They’re of the other mindset, the one that’s why there have been more attacks on humans lately, too.”

“Well, that and the TruBlood problem,” Sookie amends.

“Yes,” Nora agrees.

“Okay, that – I mean, I guess I get it,” Adilyn sighs.  “It just… sucks.  A lot.  I don’t really know _how_ to be without my sisters, I just – I want them to be okay.  I don’t want these dumb strangers to win.”

Nora frowns, leaning closer (possibly against her better judgment, she’s not sure; she’s just… horrible at this).  “I understand,” she murmurs.  “There’s nothing more terrifying than the prospect of losing one’s family.”  Or family of a sort, miscellaneous loved ones, that sort of thing.

“It doesn’t get easier when you’re older?” Adilyn asks, sounding somewhere between hurt and hopeful.

“It’s never easy,” Nora says. “But you’ll get through, no matter what happens.”

“Nora!” comes a shout from somewhere behind them.  “Sookie, Adilyn, hey!”  Willa jogs right up to the playground, lolling against the metal grating.

“Hey, Willa,” Adilyn says, tilting her head.  “How’d you find – oh.  Right.”  The smell thing again.

“Eric wanted me to come get y’all,” Willa says.

“Are my sisters okay?” Adilyn asks immediately.

To everyone’s great delight, Willa nods.  “All healed up and everything,” she confirms.  “They’re still resting, kinda, but Lafayette’s cooking and they’re talking and breathing and good.”

It’s definitely against her better judgment this time, but Nora reaches to lay a hand on Adilyn’s in some approximation of encouragement, and Sookie says, “Let’s get you back to ‘em, then.”

“Yeah,” Adilyn agrees.  “And once they’re up for it, let’s go kick some serious ass.”


End file.
